Taylathon

Over the past weekend, we had Taylathon, a yearly bike race around campus.  Even though the freshmen guys finished last, we definitely had the most fun out of any team.

No regrets, just love.

Fresh WHAT???? Fresh MEN!

Happy Easter!

Philippians 2:5b-11

 ⁵ ...have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

 ⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
   by taking the very nature of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death—
      even death on a cross!

 ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
   and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

Oh, Happiness!

As I started making my playlist of summer music, I came across a particular David Crowder*Band song called Oh, Happiness that I really enjoy.  It speaks of the joy found in God's grace.

Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us and the whole human race

Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us and the whole human race
 

Friend or foe, stranger or kin
All who come begin again
Hard or frail, rich or poor
All in need need fear no more
Such a thing to give away

Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us and the whole human race

Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us and the whole human race

All regrets let go, forget
There's something that mends all of it
Such a thing to give away

Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us and the whole human race

Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us and the whole human race

Sound the church bells
Let them ring, let them ring
For everything can be redeemed
We can be redeemed, all of us

Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us and the whole human race

Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us and the whole human race

Oh, happiness
There's grace enough for us and the whole human race

Love and Humility

During Saturday morning small group, we watched a Francis Chan sermon about love and humility, referencing the passage in 1 Corinthians 8:1-3, especially verse 3: "But the man who loves God is known by God."

I wrote down a list of questions that I thought of during the video, and I'd like to share them with you all.

How much do I love my peers?
How often do I weep for the lost?
How can I better share Chirst with others?
Is that my PASSION in life?
Do I care about other things more than I care about salvation?
Why don't I feel pain for others' suffering?
Again, do I GENUINELY love others?
Do others see God in my life?
Am I mindful of where others struggle?
What am I doing to build them up?

These just struck me as I wondered how much I actually care for other people.  I'm going to use these as I evaluate myself, trying to strive to love and care for others in a deeper way.

Spring Break

Alex and I

Wow!  What a week!  I've been gone for the last 10 days in Haiti, doing a work project with 122 other TU students in the cities of Gonaives and Docine.  Here's a link to our page with updates from all we did on the trip:
http://taylorspringbreak.wordpress.com/haiti/
It was a great team serving an even better cause.

The whole team in the Port-au-Prince airport

Our verse for the week was John 16:33 --> [Jesus said,] “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  There's pictures on TU's spring break blog and more over on my Facebook page.

James 1:19-27

Today, I'm going to go through one of my favorite Bible passages.  I'm thinking that I'm going to go through random passages until I get to spring break (10 days!!), then I'll start going through a book of the Bible.  James is a book that cuts straight to the core; it doesn't take time to go through soft issues.  Though it's only a few chapters long, it holds many examples of how we should live as Christians.

James 1:19-27 

¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

 ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

 ²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 

 This passage always reminds me of my need to read the Bible on a continuous basis.  It's not it flowery language; it's short and sweet, so there's not too much debate on the literal meaning of the passage.  I love the imagery of a man looking in the mirror, not only because it fit the situation perfectly, but because we can still relate to it today.

Intro, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Welcome to the start of my blog!  The idea of "Freshly Brewed Coffee" is something that I love, something that always brings a smile to my face.  Whenever I wake up to the smell of coffee, I'm starting my day with enthusiasm and motivation for the hours and classes to come.  The same should hold true with the Bible.  It's something that should be so pleasing and fragrant that we desire to wake up with and use to make it through each and every day.  I'm not the best with reading my Bible, so hopefully this gives me motivation (and encouragement for you) to continue to update this site.  My goal is at least to have a new post on MWF every week.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
 ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

These verses have always been an encouragement for me to realize that I'm here to glorify God, not myself.  It's God's will for us to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful.  This might not seem like a lot to do, but it's a mindset we need to passionately pursue in our lives.  

 

The word joy is often confused with happiness, but their meanings have a key difference.  Someone can be joyful without being happy, and the converse is true as well.  Happy is only short-lived, just a momentary feeling, but joy is love and happiness throughout your life, and it comes from the love that Christ shares with us.  Hence, Paul says that we should rejoice ALWAYS.  In Philippians 4:4, he's so excited about it, he says it twice.  We can love people without agreeing with them at the moment.  It's a way of thinking (Cosgrove would call it a worldview) that we should strive towards.  

 

After we establish this, we need to talk with God and thank Him for these things because every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17), and His will far surpasses our own ideas.  He didn't have to give us this;  it's only by His vast love that we can spend eternity with Him.  We have a way to communicate with the Creator, so let's take advantage of it.  It's my goal for the week to actively seek out joy in my life, no matter the circumstances I'm in at the moment.